I'm making a solo tabletop RPG, because I can, I guess.
My biggest worry is that there isn't much player choice. Other than that, some of the monster stats aren't used at all, and the weird encounters are rarer than I intended.
Still, I'm not going to change anything because that would go against the spirit of the jam. I'm happy with what I made in just a 3 hours (I spent the next day playtesting, fwiw).
So, I got some middling scores, but I'm happy with my final result. I knew from the outset that A Strange Sinking Feeling was a niche game, since it's actually entirely a text document, and not everyone is really into tabletop games. It was essentially like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
Still, For a game I wrote in a few hours and tweaked over a day, it did as well as it could've. I've learned that yes, I can make a game like this and no, I'm not very good at it yet :smile:.
Something interesting is that this game is actually a canon part of my other game Can't Anyone Save The World? 2nd Edition, since it takes place in a cave system beneath the Great Western Woods. I'm always expanding on this little world of mine...
You can play the mentioned games here:
https://krgamestudios.com/astrangesinkingfeeling
https://krgamestudios.com/castworld2
This will be my 3rd Ludum Dare - I could've sworn I'd done more, but I guess not.
My first LD resulted in a 4 month dev cycle to turn Candy! into Candy Raid: The Factory. I was encouraged by scoring 72nd in Fun, so I blame all of you :P
I'm hoping I do well this weekend too.
Not just from making the game, but from struggling with unity itself - it just crashed my computer three times, and I've wasted at least 2 hours trying to get unity's built in tile system to do what I want it to... but that didn't work, so I had to just use GameObjects.
But, on the plus side, it's coming along well, if a little slower than I'd like. I'm taking a break right now, but my code is already available here:
https://github.com/Ratstail91/Keep-It-Alive
I think I'll enter the compo if I get it done in time.
As for the game itself: You're a strange character huddling over a dying fire in the middle of the dark woods. You need to gather wood from the nearby trees to keep the fire burning, otherwise darkness will set in, and there's no telling what's waiting in the darkness...
Which is a nice change of pace.
https://github.com/Ratstail91/Keep-It-Alive
All it needs is audio, polish and hosting. I think I'll use a web version, since I don't feel like building for windows right now.
Time for some sleep.
I'm hoping to convey a sort of feeling with this that I can't really describe. Something similar to stress, but more serene, I guess?
Also, I've been listening to the crackling of the fire for the last 15 minutes, because it's just so soothing...
So a few years ago, my team entered Ludum Dare 41 with a simple puzzle game about a candy-loving witch. Several months later, we released a full game based on that prototype to Steam, and a few years later, it even released on the Nintendo Switch.
Some amazing things can come from Ludum Dare, and I'm personally hoping we might capture lightning in a bottle for the second time.
Good luck to everyone participating, and I hope this leads to something good for you!
I have plenty of ideas, I've even just started a twitter account just for half-baked ideas: KRGamePrompts. What matters is the execution.
I'm hoping to work with a new artist this time around, assuming she's still up to it in a fortnight. We'll be doing the extra category so she has the time to dedicate to it.
This will be my fifth LD jam - my first jam lead to a prototype, which led to a game, which lead to a Nintendo Switch port. Big things start here!
I'll be working with my friend @jesyika this time - first time we've done a jam together, oddly enough, and we'll be in the "extra" category since we have IRL jobs and/or projects. It'll be good to go at a leisurely pace for once :smile: